1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to indexing drive conveyors and, more specifically, to an indexing drive slat conveyor having a combined stop and final position assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conveyors are well known in the material handling art as a means to transport finished goods, components and work in process from one point to another. Thus, conveyors have long been used in many varied manufacturing processes to move work-in-process between work stations. In the past, labor, in the form of a worker, was commonly required to be stationed at one end or the other of the conveyor, for example to offload work-in-process from the conveyor and to precisely position components for the next stage of a sequential manufacturing process such as a stamping, cutting, or welding operations.
However, manufacturing processes continue to employ more and more automation such as robotics, which have eliminated the labor required for many steps in these processes. Still, even with robotics and other automation, there remains a need to precisely position work in process and other material at predetermined timed intervals in many manufacturing environments.
Thus, indexing conveyors have also been employed in the past to move material in predetermined increments from one point to another as a way to better control the flow of work-in-process between two points. While incremental movement of work-in-process has assisted in the control of the flow of material between two points, often such conveyors have suffered from a lack of precision in their movement and the resulting error has a tendency to xe2x80x9cstack upxe2x80x9d such that control over the position of the material is lost. Furthermore, indexing conveyors known in the related art have suffered from the disadvantage that they are generally much more expensive than other comparable forms of material handling systems.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an indexing drive conveyor system that provides precise, repeatable indexing movement as it conveys material therealong. Further, there remains a need in the art for such an indexing drive conveyor that is cost-effective to manufacture.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages in the related art in an indexing conveyor system having a conveyor mechanism that is adapted to support and transport objects along the length of the indexing conveyor system. In one preferred embodiment, the conveyor mechanism includes a drive shaft. An indexing drive assembly is operatively coupled to the drive shaft of the conveyor mechanism and is adapted to impart indexed movement to the conveyor mechanism. In addition, the system also includes a combined stop and final position assembly. The combined stop and final position assembly has a stop sprocket mounted to the drive shaft so that it is rotatable therewith as well as a final position mechanism that is mounted to the conveyor mechanism. The final position mechanism is adapted to selectively engage the stop sprocket to stop the indexed movement of the conveyor. In this way, the combined stop and final position assembly is adapted to position the conveyor mechanism at discrete, predetermined intervals of distance moved and to hold the conveyor mechanism in the precise predetermined position for a predetermined period of time.
The indexing drive conveyor system of the present invention achieves these results in an efficient, cost effective manner that is substantially less expensive than competing indexed conveyors known in the related art.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood after reading the subsequent description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.